All Your Grief, At Last Behind You
by Detective Jazz Dever
Summary: [Les Mis]It's been a year since the tragedies that occured at the barricades. Marius sits alone, reflecting his guilt, but sometimes the endless night can be ended by a little surprise.


**Disclaimer:** Hello everyone. Since I have the worst case of writer's block _ever_, I'm trying to keep myself busy with other fanfics. I'll try to get back to my RENTfics, I promise! But since I also happen to absolutely adore _Les Miserables_, I figured "What the heck?" Anyway, if I own Les Mis, do you honestly think I'd let so many of my favorite characters die? (I may hate Javert, but still…I wouldn't have made him go completely insane and drown himself!)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marius Pontmercy sat in the unforgiving darkness of the empty dining room, clutching a cup of tea that he never actually drank from yet. He didn't really mind though. It seemed suitable considering what day it was. Had it really been a year since those two days at the barricades?

_There's a grief that can't be spoken…_

Eponine was the first to go. _'Ponine_, he thought with a small smile. That little childhood nickname stuck with his dear, dear friend.

_And although, I know that he is blind,_

_Still I say there's a way for us._

But alas,he didn't realize her true feelings for him until it was too late. All thanks to him, he would always think. If he hadn't told her to risk her life, to go over the barricades, to send a stupid letter, she may have been alive to see their wedding.

_Don't you fret, Monsieur Marius,  
I don't feel any pain._

He could almost hear one of the last things she ever said to him, as if she was comforting him; trying to heal his guilty heart.She was never angry at him for telling her to do so. She _wanted_ to risk her life. Was she mad? Just because she cared about him more than he ever knew, she was willing to die for him?

_Her life was cold and dark_

_Yet she was unafraid._

_We fight here in her name._

_Her death won't be in vain._

_**She will not be betrayed.**_

What did they know? She _had_ been betrayed. Marius betrayed her by marrying Cosette. Of course he loved Cosette, but he hated to think how many tears were shed by his friend because of her unreturned love.

_They could see a world reborn_

_And they rose with voices ringing…_

He suddenly heard the grandfather clock in the foyer strike the hour; 5 o'clock in the morning. He could almost hear gunshots in the place of the gongs. It was around this time when the ABC Café Gang had fallen. How could one person lose all of his friends in a matter to twelve hours?

_Empty chairs at empty tables,_

_Now my friends are dead and gone._

Sometimes he still felt so awful because he lived. Cosette knew that and would always say how that was nonsense, that his friends, if they could come back, wouldn't hate him in the slightest.

Sadly, her words were slightly biased; she was in love with him for God's sake! She never even knew his friends, so her judgment wasn't the best.

He remembered all the planning, all the discussion, all the hope for a change was for nothing. Well, not exactly; even now people were still fighting for the rights of the poor. Perhaps they're dreams of freedom would come true.

_Oh my friends, my friends forgive me_

_That I live and you are gone…_

Then there was his saintly father in law; Jean Valjean, the man who saved his life at the barricades.

_Then it's true, I was right._

_Jean Valjean was my savior that night…_

To this day, Marius was eternally grateful for his sacrifice. So grateful, he kept that promise that was, he had to admit, incredibly hard to keep;

_Who am I?_

_You're Jean Valjean!_

Sometimes he had actually considered telling Cosette, so she could know the entire truth, for he knew that Valjean's letter only told of Cosette's mother, Fantine. But then he would remember what he had told him;

_It is better this way._

_Promise me, Monsieur, Cosette will never know…_

_I give my word._

…_what I have spoken, why I must go._

_For the sake of Cosette, it must be so._

Since the man saved his life that fateful night, the least he could do was keep his mouth shut.

"Marius?"

Marius looked up and almost thought he had seen an angel. Well, she was one, to him.

_Dear Mademoiselle, I was lost in your spell._

Cosette was by the door, holding a candle.

"Marius, why are you up so early?" she asked, seeming very concerned.

Marius sighed and walked over to her. "Don't worry about me Cosette. Why are _you_ up? You should be resting. Think of the baby" he replied, motioning to her stomach, which had been growing steadily for nearly nine months.

"I asked you first" Cosette answered simply. She kissed him on the cheek and then beckoned him to tell her what the matter was with her blue eyes. Absolutely beautiful oceans, they reminded Marius of.

Marius sighed once again. There was no use, was there? "I couldn't sleep."

Cosette looked at him curiously for a second and then nodded in realization. Marius was relieved. He knew she'd understand. "I may never have known your friends, but if what you've told me of them was any indication, they were all willing to die for their cause. They wouldn't blame you for not dying. After all…" she placed her smooth, comforting hands on her shoulders. "…they knew about us, right? They knew that we were going to get married, right?"

"Well, Enjorlas didn't really want us to talk about anything besides the revolution" Marius confessed. "But they definitely knew."

_Do I care if I should die now she goes across the sea?  
Life without Cosette means nothing at all.  
Would you weep, Cosette, should Marius fall?  
Will you weep, Cosette  
For me?_

Now he knew the answer, for she wept tears of joy when she found out that Marius was alive. If they found him dead…he hated to think about it.

"So, I honestly think they'd feel awful if you _had_ died" Cosette continued.

Marius suddenly smiled. As usual, his wife was right. He kissed her gently, almost as if he were thanking her.

After they broke away from each other, Marius whispered "I love you Cosette."

"I…"Cosette was about to reply, but then she gasped. "Marius…I need to sit down." She walked over to their bed and sat down, clutching her stomach.

Marius, slightly frightened, rushed after her. "Cosette, what's wrong?" he asked. _No please don't let it be what I think it is. I can't stand another death in my life, today worst of all!_ he thought

"Marius, we have to get to the hospital right now."

**_Well, at least it wasn't what I thought it was._**

Two hours later, Marius was gazing at Cosette, handing a little bundle to him, seeming so exhausted, but Marius had never seen his beloved more happy.

Slightly nervous, Marius gently held their very first child. She was just beautiful. Her head was already covered with curly, dark brown hair, it seemed as if she was already smiling, though it was probably just Marius' imagination and she even had her mother's eyes.

Marius knelt down by Cosette's hospital bed, careful not to drop the baby. "What should we name her?"

Cosette obviously had this planned for months, because she immediately answered "Eponine Chantal Pontmercy."

Marius looked up in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Oh Marius, of course I'm sure. Eponine was your friend and…" Cosette seemed a bit sheepish at the moment. "I've always felt a little guilty that I took you away from her."

"Oh Cosette, don't say that!" Marius insisted. Then he suddenly realized what she said. "Wait! You knew…?"

Cosette giggled. "Yes. I knew she was in love with you. I would always notice her face whenever we met. She would always look like she lost her only key to happiness. I don't blame her at all. You make it quite easy to fall in love with you" she explained.

Marius smiled at Cosette and then looked down at Eponine. It felt so odd to even think that name of someone else.

_Just hold me now and let it be,_

_Shelter me, comfort me._

Cosette sat up a bit and put her arms around him. "If only everyone could see us now" she whispered.

_So do I, Cosette. So do I._

_Take my hand and lead me to salvation  
Take my love, for love is everlasting  
And remember the truth that once was spoken;  
To love another person is to see the face of God._

_It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes!_

**A/N:** Well…love it? Hate it? I should really kick myself right now, since the truth is I think Eponine deserves Marius a little more than Cosette, but at least I made up for it by naming the kid after her. Anyway, please review, because reviews make me very happy. _Au revoir mes amis. _


End file.
